Lithium diffusion pathways and vacancy formation in the Pmmn-Li(1-x)FeO2 electrode material

Models for Li(+) ion mobility were developed and investigated in the 'corrugated layer' orthorhombic phase of Li(1-x)FeO(2), an attractive possible electrode material for reversible lithium ion batteries. The ground-state crystal energy was computed by first-principles DFT (Density-Functional-Theory) methods, based on the use of the hybrid B3LYP functional with localized Gaussian-type basis sets. Appropriate supercells were devised as needed, with full least-energy structure optimization. In the defect-free case (x = 0), ion diffusion was found to take place cooperatively inside a fraction of active lithium layers separated by inert ones, so as to reduce lattice strain; intermediate bottleneck states of Li are either in tetrahedral (energy barrier ΔE(a) = 0.410 eV) or linear (ΔE(a) = 0.468 eV) coordination. For the Li(0.75)FeO(2) deintercalated material a number of low energy vacancy configurations were considered, investigating also the vacancy influence on electron density of states and atomic charge distribution. The most favourable ion transport mechanisms (ΔE(a) = 0.292 and 0.304 eV) imply a linear Li bottleneck state, with all lithium layers active and a quite small lattice strain. Accordingly, in the defective material the predicted ionic conductivity at room temperature rises from 10(-5)-10(-6) (LiFeO(2)) to 4 × 10(-4) ohm(-1) cm(-1) (Li(0.75)FeO(2)).